


Aquarius

by Jacqueline Albright-Beckett (xaandria)



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Auction!Fic, Ficlet Collection, Fluff, M/M, Smut, prompt!fic, theme:water, there's something for everyone, utterly depressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-08
Updated: 2013-06-08
Packaged: 2017-12-14 07:30:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 2,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/834293
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xaandria/pseuds/Jacqueline%20Albright-Beckett
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A collection of five ficlets, spanning the lives of Dean and Castiel from Purgatory and back to Heaven.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Purgatory

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frecklesarechocolate (onlybritainisgreat)](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=frecklesarechocolate+%28onlybritainisgreat%29).



>   
> _Written as an auction commission for frecklesarechocolate, the promise was "five drabbles, each inspired by one prompt, with an overarching narrative theme that connects them all." Her prompts are the title chapters. Enjoy.  
>  Many thanks to plantainleaf for the beta._

The most miserable part of Purgatory hadn't been the constant feeling of being pursued. It hadn't been the weary sensation of wanting to sleep, but not being able - souls didn't sleep, after all, and the best Dean had ever been able to manage had been a fitful doze.

The most miserable part of Purgatory had been the four-month stretch during which it had rained - and hadn't stopped.

The trees had kept it off for a short interval, but then the leaves began shedding the water in rivulets. It soaked through every layer Dean had, running down his back like icy fingernails, settling in his shoes and making his sodden socks rub and chafe with every step.

Cas had the look of a drowned rat about him, his too-large overcoat hanging about his frame in dark wet folds that stuck to each other and gave the angel a shrunken, wrinkled appearance. Already recalcitrant, the subtle but ever infringing trial of never being dry made him even more withdrawn and practically mute.

Benny would joke about dissolving, but the jests more and more frequently earned him dark looks, until finally they all stopped speaking altogether.

Strange, then, how one of Dean's clearest memories of Cas was the quiet resignation on his face as he stamped out one of their infrequent, anemic fires, droplets swinging from his bangs with the motion, and then the blue eyes glancing up to catch at Dean's in a silent moment of shared -

Something.


	2. Grace

It took them several days to decompress after the final battle for Heaven.

With wordless consent they had turned the dash of the Impala westward and driven, stopping only for gas and food, switching drivers wherever necessary, until they were so far up in the mountains that their cell phones were no more than useless bricks. It took a little doing, but they found the cabin that Sam remembered staying in once years ago, a share and share alike shelter that Hunters could use when passing through. It was ramshackle, perhaps, but it was everything the three of them needed at the moment.

The lake was small enough to barely deserve the name, a tiny stream-fed thing fed by glaciers with water clear enough to see nearly straight to the bottom of. Even in the heart of summer it was freezing, and Dean protested quietly when Cas shook him awake one night with a gleam in his eye - and protested more loudly when Cas led him by the hand to the tiny dock that jutted into the lake.

“No, it’s freezing and fish have sex in that water.”

Cas overcame Dean’s reluctance by simply picking him up and tossing him in.

Sputtering and gasping from the cold, Dean did his best to glare up at Cas on the dock, but the vision of him laughing in the moonlight - a real belly laugh, not just an amused smirk or chuckling exhalation - was enough to ignite that enormous feeling in his chest that often threatened to engulf his entire consciousness, to seize his mouth and make him say ridiculous things that couldn’t possibly be repeated back to him in turn.

So he did the only logical thing he could do: he swam up to the dock, pulled himself enough out of the water for proper leverage, and then pulled Cas into the lake with him.

It was as they sat in their sodden clothes, hair still dripping, that Dean looked over at Cas and knew that this was as good a time as any to unbutton his shirt pocket and draw out the crystal phial.

“Cas.”

Cas ceased his study of the gibbous moon and looked to Dean, his eyes dropping to the phial and widening. His breath caught in a sharp draw inward, almost voiced with a note of longing.

“I made a little detour. It is yours, right?”

Cas nodded slightly, hand raising slowly as though he didn’t know he was doing it. Dean clenched his jaw and placed the phial into Cas’s hand, closing his fingers around it.

“I know it’s been rough. And I...haven’t gone out of my way to make it any easier for you.” Dean couldn’t watch Cas’s face as he studied the gentle blue incandescence; it was painful. He switched his gaze to the moon instead. “We didn’t leave that much Heaven intact. But, I guess if you’ve got to start over...best not bite off more than you can chew.”

Cas was very still and silent next to him. The quiet nearly begged to be filled.

“Ever since I’ve known you...you just wanted to fix Heaven. Fix your home. I never understood until I - until I saw what it had come to a couple days ago.” Dean nodded - more to himself than to Cas, who Dean couldn’t even confirm was listening. “You can start from scratch, now. Nobody around to stop you.” He swallowed. “Sam won’t. And neither - neither will I.” He took a deep, shaky breath. “I’ll miss you, though.”

He had exhausted his ability to speak; the words he’d never been able to say burned at the roof of his mouth, but he couldn’t force them out. _I love you. Stay._ The moon grew hazy as he let his vision slip out of focus in an effort to stem the sudden prick of tears at the corners of his eyes.

If it had not been so quiet, he wouldn’t have heard the tiny _plunk_ some five yards in front of them. He didn’t see what made the noise, but the azure glow sinking through the dark crystal water was unmistakable. Shock stealing what words he’d had left, Dean snapped his head to the side to stare at Cas, eyes wide.

Cas looked utterly calm as he watched his Grace sink to the frigid depths of the lake too small to have a proper name. When it was no longer visible, he looked to the side and locked eyes with Dean, the tiniest hint of a smile playing about his eyes.

“I’d have missed you too.”


	3. Need

The narrow shower stall of the motel was entirely unsuitable for two people. It was almost unsuitable for even one; Dean had badly banged his elbow on the soap shelf the day before yesterday simply trying to rinse his hair.

But it had been four days since they'd had any privacy together, and the cramped quarters of the shower did offer all sorts of opportunities for soap-slick bodies to rub against one another.

"Fuck, Cas," Dean moaned through clenched teeth, trying to remain as quiet as possible, looking back over his shoulder.

"I'm trying," Cas replied with his usual deadpan, though it sounded a little strained and frayed at the edges with lust. "You're so - _oh_."

Dean let out his breath in a guttural gasp as he felt Cas's cock finally push through the threshold, filling him all at once. The burn of the stretch spread through him an instant later but he forced himself to stay relaxed - a talent he was rapidly picking up - and before too long he was twitching his hips backward against Cas's in wordless plea for him to move.

The floor was too slick with water and soap and errant lube for either of them to get much purchase; Cas did not so much thrust into Dean as rock against him, breath huffing against Dean's ear as he pressed Dean against the wall with every stroke. Dean tried to find a handhold of some sort and failed, settling instead for placing one forearm on the wall to rest his forehead against, his other hand going down to his own cock to pull at it in something close to desperation.

They did not have the luxury of taking their time, and at any rate Cas had not grown fully accustomed to the skill of drawing out the act - with a shudder and a whispered string of nonsense Cas thrust one final time, his fingers gripping Dean's hips tightly to hold them against his own. Dean came a few moments later, riding the last few waves of Cas's aftershocks, biting his lip to hold back the moan that had been building for the last several minutes.

Panting, hearts racing, and lightheaded from the combination of the shower's heat and the exertion, they gave themselves a cursory last wash and rinse before stepping from the shower.

"I needed that," Dean said finally, a little breathlessly.

"I know," Cas replied - a little smugly.

"You guys know I can hear every single word, right?" Sam's voice sounded from the kitchenette of the motel room.


	4. Breakdown

No matter what he did, he couldn't scrub it away.

Dean was sick of blood - everything he owned had its stains, yellowed brownish swaths of them like bruises, some of it his own, and the warm water of the shower just felt like more falling from the sky to slough down his skin and stain that, too.

Frantic, he yanked the tap all the way into the blue, desperate to fend off the feverish hallucination, and the frigid water did some of it, but in his haste his heel swiveled and he lost his balance, landing on the ceramic floor of the bathtub with a hollow THUNK.

"Dean?"

Dean didn't answer; the cold droplets felt like tiny daggers on his too-hot skin and he curled around himself, trying to minimize the damage they would do, knowing that if he didn't move he would be flayed alive but unable to fathom what his muscles should do to accomplish that.

"Dean!"

There was a pounding at the bathroom door; it reverberated through the tiny motel bathroom like thunder. It opened after a moment, and the shower curtain was ripped to the side.

Some small portion of Dean's mind that wasn't gripped by the fever knew what he must look like, huddled and shivering in the corner of the bathtub, a pathetic mess. He didn't want Cas to see him this way. Helplessly he hid his face in the folds of his arms.

The water stopped its incessant torture, and a warm hand laid itself on Dean's back, feeling almost painful against the gooseflesh there. Dean flinched away from the touch, and he could sense the surprise and hurt that the motion caused, though the hand stayed steady.

"Let's get you back to bed. Can you stand?"

The sheets were cold; not nearly as cold as the shower, but cold enough, and Dean couldn't stop a whimper as Cas pulled them up around him. Without hesitation, he could feel Cas climb into the bed next to him, and as he gathered Dean into his arms Dean could feel the concern thrumming along with Cas's heartbeat as their chests pressed together.


	5. The Future

The darkness pressed against them, thick and absolute. Dean swallowed hard, fighting back the claustrophobic feeling of being pressed in on all sides, a feeling only made more potent by the water that was now lapping against his thighs.

“This is it, I guess,” Sam said, and his voice echoed strangely through the tiny chamber of the cavern, so that even though Dean was clasping his hand tightly, he wouldn’t have been able to tell for certain where Sam was standing.

The flashlights had gone out nearly an hour ago, some two hours after Sam had rounded the corner with the sickly look on his face to tell them that the tide was coming in, and they were trapped. Which, of course, had been exactly what the hydra had wanted when it had dragged them in here in the first place. Their only consolation was that they had wasted the son of a bitch.

Small consolation, now. Dean tightened his grip on Cas’s hand next to him, gulping down against the fear that bubbled up in his middle again as another wash of brackish seawater rushed up, raising the level of the water to his chest before settling back down to his waist.

“Any regrets?” he asked to force back the silence.

“None,” Sam said firmly, squeezing Dean’s hand.

“One, I suppose,” Cas said quietly. “I never married you.”

Dean snorted. “You as good as.”

“I meant to - properly - but then the vampire uprising and that rogue Leviathan and - and Jeff -” Cas’s voice caught, and his grip on Dean’s hand tightened painfully.

“Hey. Jeff’ll be all right. We raised him good.” Dean swallowed hard. “Charlie will make sure he grows up right.”

“We always said we’d quit,” Sam murmured. “But it was always one more job.”

“Well, I think it’s safe to say that this is our last one.” Dean licked his lips as another rush of water gushed around them, the depth now enough to make it difficult to keep his feet on the uneven rock floor.

“I’m ordained,” Sam said suddenly.

Dean blinked. “Yeah? I am too. So?”

Sam’s answering laugh was perhaps slightly hysterical. “So. Do you, Dean, take Castiel to be your wedded husband, and all that other stuff we probably don’t have time for?”

Dean felt his own maniacal laugh rising up inside him, and he couldn’t suppress the grin that spread across his face. “Fuck yes.”

“And Cas? Do you take Dean as your husband?”

“Of course.”

“Then you’re married. I say so. Kiss your husband.”

Even in the pitch black, it was effortless to find Cas’s lips; neither Dean nor Cas let go of Sam’s hands as they kissed, for fear of not being able to locate him again, but they wrapped their free arms around each other tightly and desperately as another influx of water sent them all staggering against each other.

They were truly floating, now, their toes only barely scraping the floor of the chamber. Less than a foot of air remained above their heads. Trembling threads of panic began winding through Dean as they braced their hands against the ceiling, still grasping one another tightly, waiting for the last finishing wave.

“I love you, Sammy.”

“Love you too, Dean.”

“And Cas - you’re my everything.”

“And you’re mine.”

“I’ll see you two in Heaven. Look me up.”

The tide came in.


End file.
